The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the World Cup, was held in
Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland were chosen unopposed as hosts
to hold the 1951 World Cup Finals,
at the 25th FIFA Congress in Luxembourg on 26 July 1946
(along with the 1950 World Cup). A day later, Congress decided to
delay the World Cup Finals for three years, deciding it should take place in
1954.

The Draw

These Finals used a unique format. The sixteen qualifying
teams were again divided into four groups of four at the draw in Zürich,
30 November 1953. But each group
contained two seeded and two unseeded teams. Only four matches were
scheduled for each group, with a seeded team versus an unseeded
team. Extra time would then be played if the teams were level after
ninety minutes, but a draw would result if the scores were still
level after 120 minutes.

Pot 1

Pot 2

Pot 3

Pot 4

Switzerland

Austria (seeded)

France (seeded)

Belgium

Uruguay (seeded)

England (seeded)

Italy (seeded)

Mexico

Brazil (seeded)

West Germany

Czechoslovakia

Korea Republic

Hungary (seeded)

Yugoslavia

Turkey (seeded)

Scotland

The Build-Up

JUNE 1:
England began three days of training at Roehampton, prior to the
announcement of the World Cup squad.

The Times: So far
27 players have been named, but only 25 will take part in the training
which starts to-day. Matthews and Finney will not be there. Matthews has
asked for a rest following his tour of the Continent with his club,
Blackpool, and Finney is having treatment for a thigh injury.

The Guardian: The
annual general meeting of the Football Association lasted twelve
minutes. Not a word was said about England's recent heavy defeat by
Hungary in Budapest.

JUNE 3: The
Football Association announced the squad of 17 players that were to
travel to Switzerland for the tournament.

JUNE 8: The
Football Association announced the five reserves, who were to remain at
home on standby. All of the 22-man squad returned to Roehampton for a
further three days of training. Matthews and Finney were given the third
day off. They were all asked to train on their club grounds for the next
two days.

JUNE 11: England's
team for the opening game, against Belgium, was announced.

JUNE 14: The
England squad arrived in Lucerne, their base for the tournament.

First PhasePool D

Team

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

Pts

England

2

1

1

0

6

4

+2

3

Italy

2

1

0

1

5

3

+2

2

Switzerland

2

1

0

1

2

3

-1

2

Belgium

2

0

1

1

5

8

-3

1

17 June 1954

5:50pm CET - Switzerland
2 Italy 1

[1-1]Stade
Olympique de La Pontaise, Lausanne,

Canton de V

aud

(43,000)

Ballaman, Hügi Boniperti

6:10pm CET - Belgium 4 England 4

[1-2] AETSankt Jakob Stadium, Basel,

Basel-Stadt

(14,000)

Anoul (2), Coppens, Dickinson OGBroadis (2), Lofthouse
(2)

20 June 1954

5:00pm CET -

Italy
4 Belgium 1

[1-0]Stadio
Cornaredo, Lugano, Repubblica e Cantone del Ticino

(26,000)

Pandolfini (pen), Galli,
Frignani, Lorenzi Anoul

5:10pm CET -

England 2 Switzerland 0

[1-0]Wankdorfstadion, Bern,
Kanton Bern

(43,500)

Mullen, Wilshaw

JUNE 18:
The Times - ENGLAND THROW VICTORY AWAY

England...were like those rare children of light who can pass through
any experience protected by a sheath of impenetrable innocence.

...dominated
the central hour with some pure cultured football to take a lead that
should have given them a worthy victory.

...too much
artistry at the time of their domination.

JUNE
21: The Times - FORMIDABLE PROSPECT
AHEAD

...torrid
heat of over a hundred degrees under a cloudless sky...

England, in a
world sense, represent a Third Division side that has found its way into
the last eight of the FA Cup.

...must start
thinking intelligently ahead of the pass.

Yet
England...deserved to win a match of extreme mediocrity.

...dominating
influence of Wright...

23 June 1954

- 6:00pm CET

Switzerland
4 Italy 1

[1-0]Sankt Jakob Stadium, Basel,
Basel-Stadt (14,000)

Hügi (2), Ballaman, Fatton Nesti

Play-off

Second Phase

Another feature of the 1954 format was that the four
group-winning teams were drawn against each other in the knockout
stages to provide one finalist, and the four runners-up played
against each other to provide the second finalist.

26 June 1954 -

all 5:00pm CET

Austria 7 Switzerland 5

[5-4]

Stade
Olympique de La Pontaise, Lausanne,

Canton de V

aud

(32,000)

Wagner (3),
A.Körner (2), Ocwirk, ProbstBallaman (2), Hügi (3)

Uruguay
4 England 2

[2-1]

Sankt Jakob Stadium, Basel,

Basel-Stadt

(28,000)

Borges, Varella,
Schiaffino, AmbroisLofthouse,
Finney

27 June 1954

Hungary
4 Brazil 2

[2-1]

Wankdorfstadion, Bern,
Kanton Bern

(40,000)

Hidegkuti,
Kocsis (2), Lantos (pen)D.Santos (pen), Julinho

West
Germany 2 Yugoslavia 0

[1-0]Le Stade de Charmilles,
Genève,République et Canton de Genève

(17,000)

Horvat
OG, Rahn

JUNE 28:
The Times - ENGLAND'S FOOTBALL PRIDE REGAINED

...departed defiantly with
all flags flying and all their guns firing...

...England so nearly could
have won.

...Uruguayan defence began
to shudder before an articulate English answer made pointed by the
inspiration of the evergreen Matthews.

...limping Uruguayans at
the end who were most relieved to hear the whistle blow...

...higher degree of
mobility, imagination, accuracy, and spirit than one has seen from an
English side for some time.

The Uruguayans played the
whole second half with only eight fully effective men.